A technical writer for all seasons

Through some previous contracts, I’ve gained experience interacting with administering SharePoint sites including managing document libraries, user access, creating lists and other site elements. In fact, I believe that today’s technical writer needs to be fluent in SharePoint site administration. During this time, I’ve inherited some SharePoint sites that made my job harder versus making… Continue reading My SharePoint site pet peeves

As Summer 2018 comes to a close, I came back with a renewed energy to write more things on my own. I took a look at some of the mistakes I’ve made in the past and came up with some new rules for myself. Here are some secrets I learned for myself about personal online… Continue reading The secrets I’ve found about personal publishing

I couldn’t bear to spend a milestone birthday at home in Northern Virginia, so I found myself in Miami Beach for a few sun-soaked (and sweaty) days. It was good to get away again. Years ago, I was in Miami on a project and had to stay over a weekend. The client pointed us to… Continue reading More thoughts from another Summer 2018 vacation

Technical writers need to expand their personal and professional friends because they need to. Building a strong personal and professional network 1. The product manager The product manager can be the technical writer’s best friend or worst enemy. Knowing a competent product manager can aid technical writers to better understand the product they are documenting. On the dark side,… Continue reading The technical writer’s 5 best friends

Here are some lessons I learned a few years back when I was installing Drupal for the first time. It was a rather mixed experience. I tore it all down the other weekend and started over, not as much out of disappointment, but to knock the kinks out of my first deployment. Here are some… Continue reading Installing Drupal: Lessons Learned

Things have been stressful for me both personally and professionally for the past few months. Not to mention, I have a milestone birthday this summer. It all added up to me taking time off the summer. It’s the second summer in a row for those of you playing at home. The beach lets me stop… Continue reading Reflections from my summer vacation

I was cleaning out my home office recently and came across a collection of Non-Disclosure (NDA) Agreements that I’ve signed over the years as a technical writer. A quick leaf through of the folder made it clear that many of the NDAs were much the same if not identical. As a tech industry contractor or… Continue reading A technical writer’s guide to NDAs